The National Center for Research Resources awarded the Clinical and Translational Science Award to the Health Sciences Center, a $21 million award.
The goal of the prize is to improve health care by enabling superior clinical and translational research, an area into which UNM HSC has already put considerable work, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Tom Udall on June 25.
The NCRR will provide the center with the $21 million over the next five years, at which point it may choose to re-apply for the award.
“The Health Sciences Center has been pursuing this designation for years,” Udall said. “I was extremely pleased when we received notice they had won.”
Udall said the award will create more than 100 jobs in New Mexico over the next five years and allow the center to attract top-notch researchers and faculty to UNM.
New training programs will alter existing educational structures, offering new opportunities for faculty and HSC students of all levels.
“The environment will be specifically designed to foster discovery and implement medical breakthroughs with collaboration on all levels,” Udall said.
Adam Newman, a first-year student in the HSC’s Physician Assistant Program, said it is unclear how the new HSC goals will fit into the existing student workload.
“If they could incorporate it into the curriculum somehow, I’m sure (I would participate),” Newman said.
The CTSA places the HSC in a consortium of other research institutions, including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University and Columbia University, according to the CTSA website. The HSC will collaborate with other research universities such as these in order to achieve a better health outcome for local populations, the website said.
Paul Roth, HSC executive vice president, said the award will translate to better health for New Mexicans.
“The ultimate outcome isn’t so much what would serve our universities,” he said. “The outcome is what’s going to better improve the quality of life for the residents of our state.”
Newman said he sees more room for the research to help community health in New Mexico.
“I think there’s the entirety of the whole state of New Mexico. It’s a well-known fact that we have some serious problems here,” Newman said.
Udall said the CTSA will give opportunities to chronically underserved communities to identify their own health challenges, resulting in research that will directly address local needs.
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“UNM HSC has been a leader for their innovation and approach to the challenges that exist in rural and medically underserved areas,” Udall said. “As UNMH is already a designated federal minority-serving institution, the award will help further address the gaps in health care that exist within Native and Hispanic communities.”
